About the Dawn's Game – Part 2

*knock**knock**knock*

As I stood in front of a mirror now wearing a frilly white ball gown that was given to me, I heard someone knock on my door. As I opened my mouth to reply to them, the door opened and a girl with very long dirty blonde hair and gray eyes entered the room.

"Lady Riftwalker, are you ready?" she asked, looking at me from the toes to the top of the tiara I was asked to wear. "Oh, you look just like a princess. The Archduchess of the Crimson Roses should be pleased."

"Pleased, huh?" I mumbled.

It was true that I looked just like a princess with that simple but elegant dress, those heeled sandals, and those legendary "half-gloves" – you know, the ones that leave half the palm uncovered. I could swear this dress was tailored to suit me both physically and mentally – the fact that it was sleeveless and asymmetrical in such a way that it looked like it had two tails not only suited me visually but totally corresponded to the type of dress I would choose for a reception.

My only complaint would be about its color, I really don't like wearing white clothes.

They are easy to stain…

And hard to clean…

I don't really like them.

Anyway…

"If you are ready, I ask you to follow me," said the girl, bowing elegantly. "Lady Lore A. Lua is waiting for you."

"A-Lua…"

"Yes, the Archduchess of Benevolence. Maybe you heard about her, she is quite popular amongst your kind."

"Maybe she is…" Though it is not exactly because of her popularity…

"Good. You probably don't know what to expect then," she said, turning around. "Here, this way."

"Okay…"

The girl left the room with me behind her.

***

An old castle of gray stones, its walls adorned with old paintings and its floor covered by crimson carpets. Outside, the sky is roaring, unleashing its flare towards the ground. A storm had fallen upon this old castle and I, Dawn Riftwalker, was walking through its cold corridors, anxious, wondering what its centuries-old owner wanted from me if not my blood.

"Crack, rumble, boom."

Or so it was supposed to be?

"Crack, rumble, boom."

With her monotonous voice, the girl before me repeated strange words again and again. I quickly understood that she was trying to emulate the sound of lightning though I sincerely have no idea how I got that.

"Huh, is there a problem?" I asked.

The girl turned to me, her wavy and messy slightly obscuring her face.

"There is. That idiot I mean that wrench Garlic. She sent you here before the agreed time which prevented us from finishing the installation of the sound system so now we have to imitate the sounds made by a tempest in order to stay faithful to the—"

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!!!"

"What is it?"

"Can you talk a bit more… slowly, please?"

"Oh, I see, it slipped up again. What I was saying is that Garlic broke our schedule so I hope you don't mind having me and my fellow students mimicking…"

The girl stopped, looking downward for a few seconds then at me again.

"It seems our little game of pretend wasn't necessary with you, Lady Riftwalker. You don't seem to be too wary of us."

A game of pretend, huh? True, I was indeed in a cold, old-fashioned stone castle but, well, that was it really.

I don't even know where to start, maybe with the cold? Well, you could see and hear air conditioners hanging on the walls. You had expected the place to be lit with candles since visible chandeliers were hung on the ceiling but… they were electrical. Oh, and the paintings were actually tablets or something like that – they displayed diaporamas of photos of people I didn't know except the occasional apparition of a younger Yakatarina, Mis…ter Garlic, and Miss Blue Bridge. Yakatarina seemed to be the only one who aged since those photos were taken.

"Guess she really is 17…"

"Are you talking about Lady YAKATARINA? Or maybe, are you talking about the Archduchess of the Crimson Roses?" asked my guide, with her monotonous voice.

"Yes, she told me she was 17," I replied before realizing something. "Isn't Yakatarina the Archduchess of the Crimson Roses? Though that is kinda a lame name…"

The girl smiled a bit even though her eyes stayed as dead and inexpressive as before.

"You truly don't fear us, do you? I think I might like you already which is why I will give you a friendly reminder, Lady Riftwalker. You should be careful about what you say about Archdukes and Archduchess, especially in front of other vampires. It might make the difference."

"The… difference?"

She turned away from me.

"Between being Dawn and being Down."

"..."

She turned to me again, "Oh if you didn't understand the joke it was a simple wordplay about your—"

"There is really no need to explain, you know? That joke was a bit… basic?"

"... Basic."

The girl squinted her eyes looking at the ground.

"Basic, huh?"

I don't why but she seemed… down after that. Thinking about it, she was the creepiest thing in the castle. She was sickly pale and had bags under her eyes. While she wore an elaborate white and gray robe with golden buttons, her long and messy hair gave her a sort of beastly air.

Funnily enough, she clearly wasn't a beast-type vampire as her eyes were gray rather than green but, honestly, I would rather have her being a beast than what she was – the type of vampire the most abhorrent to mankind, the grave defilers, eaters of corpses and eternal residents of the night. She was a vampire of the Scorched Moon, a Ghoul.

I wasn't expecting to ever meet one. They were described as monstrous beings devoid of mind but the one before me seemed almost human. She wasn't a decaying corpse as described and looked even good if not a bit unkempt and tired. True, she was walking a bit slowly and her back was crooked but still, there was nothing wrong with her.

"..."

Okay, maybe I was trying to convince myself. I knew that beast-type vampires, or Vampires of the Full Moon as they like to be referred to, could devour human flesh but they mostly stuck to blood. Ghouls on the other hand could only consume human flesh. The person in front of me probably ate countless people to stay alive – no matter how friendly she looked, she was most likely a killer. After all, the way she took food from humans could only leave them maimed or dead. I would have been naive to think she was innocent.

Then again…

I don't know if it was because of my (bad) habit of being unusually calm in dangerous situations, but I wasn't afraid of her.

"Don't worry, Mistress Riftwalker. The Archduchess of Benevolence will take good care of you. As for myself, I will go protect my rightful. Fighting against the Archduchess of the Crimson Roses should be a great experience."

That is what Miss Blue Bridge said to me when she left me in this castle. I didn't know if I could trust her – heck, I didn't even know if she was, well, herself to begin with – but she seemed to think I would be fine. Yakatarina didn't seem especially panicked when they took me either and the only other time my life was in danger in front of her, I reckon she tried to do… something awful to the aggressor. Yeah, I was probably safe. Probably.

"Here. My professor is behind this door."

The girl turned to me and pointed to an imposing door made of an unknown material.

"Eh~... Something actually creepy…" I mumbled.

"Hmhm," the girl hummed distractedly.

"Hm…"

An awkward silence fell between us. We simply made our way to the door in front of which she stopped.

"Lady Riftwalker, let me give you another piece of advice before you meet her," she suddenly said.

"Huh, I am listening."

"My professor is a kind person, a stupidly kind person. Of course, one cannot take the title of Archduchess of Benevolence without having some sort of tenderness of heart, but she is far beyond what you would normally expect from a conscious being. She is so kind that her kindness becomes an evil worthy of the title of Archduchess."

She turned to me again.

"They say that you changed the Archduchess of the Crimson Roses. Her… She apparently started considering people's lives as things worthy of her attention. Well, your life, but that is already a big improvement. My teacher seems happy about that and wants to talk to you to understand which kind of person you are. Her intentions are pure so I hope yours are too."

"... Huh?"

Another faint smile drew itself on her face, "Listen to her and avoid asking for anything. It is for your own good."

I tilted my head at her cryptic words, "Huh, okay…?"

"Ah you will probably not listen and do something stupid so I would suggest you enjoy yourself as much as humanly possible before your imminent end."

"..."

She closed her eyes, "No need to get tense humans don't live long compared to us so from my perspective you are going to die very soon…"

She turned around and faced the door again.

"Enough chitchat are you ready?"

"... I think."

"Here we are."

The girl pushed the door which moved slowly with a rumbling sound. Clearly, this door was heavy, heavier than I could ever hope to push. A gust of cold wind escapes the room like some sort of ominous warning – I could still refuse to enter this inescapable cage, I could still struggle against the powerful ghoul before me to avoid facing the monstrous being hidden in there. That being said, I could only see both scenarios ending in ways that would not benefit me at all. I could only go with what they planned and hope everything would turn out okay in the end.

"*sigh*"

I somewhat started understanding what Iovanna was talking about. Against beings so powerful as vampires, a normal human like myself could only think like a victim.